Acoustic quasi-holographic images of scattering by vertical cylinders from one-dimensional bistatic scans

Abstract

When synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) is used to image elastic targets in water, subtle features can be present in the images associated with the dynamical response of the target being viewed. In an effort to improve the understanding of such responses, as well as to explore alternative image processing methods, a laboratory-based system was developed in which targets were illuminated by a transient acoustic source, and bistatic responses were recorded by scanning a hydrophone along a rail system. Images were constructed using a relatively conventional bistatic SAS algorithm and were compared with images based on supersonic holography. The holographic method is a simplification of one previously used to view the time evolution of a target's response [Hefner and Marston, ARLO 2, 55-60 (2001)]. In the holographic method, the space-time evolution of the scattering was used to construct a two-dimensional image with cross range and time as coordinates. Various features for vertically hung cylindrical targets were interpreted using high frequency ray theory. This includes contributions from guided surface elastic waves, as well as transmitted-wave features and specular reflection.